Kitchen refit hints and tips (work in progress)

[NickK]

Work in progress - I will add to this over the next week or so.

I have just had my kitchen and dining 1989 original install area ripped out and replaced with an independent builder performing both the building work and fitting the Wren designed kitchen. Now complete - this thread I'm putting together with hits and tips from the experience for others to think about.

I'm not a legal expert or a commercial expert so use at your own risk/discretion. As part of my day job in software I am accountable for vendors and negotiate.

I'll split it into a timeline format but first and overview of what I'll expand on over the next week:

Initial
* Your homeowner/landlord responsibilities with respect to building regs
* Your rights, your builder's rights - just tips not legal.
Deciding on a kitchen
* why
* looking at some forgotten spots - for example got a bin in that?
Pre-planning
* what needs doing - things to consider (you know you wanted two ovens..)
* Who is doing what?
* pros & cons
* looking for an independent
Design
* Wren's steps
* before you accept the design
* Handling kitchen design and bill of materials
Installation
* Kitchen vendor
* Independent - including contract
* fitting hints and tips.
* handling overruns, additional work and warrantee work.

 

[RDCorporation]

Subbed

 

[Teknobry]

Having new kitchen fitted in 6 - 8 weeks...this thread could be very useful!

 

[ping8781]

Following

 

[RockLobster]

Mine started today. It's been a lot of planning. I will add to this thread as the weeks go on. I used DIY Kitchens. Excellent reviews everywhere although I will soon find out. Mine is being delivered today at 2pm.

 

[NickK]

Initial
* Your homeowner/landlord responsibilities with respect to building regs
* Your rights, your builder's rights - just tips not legal.

So firstly if you're a home owner or a landlord, there are number of things that apply to you - these also then affect insurance, can get you fined and even result in criminal prosecutions.

The building regs "Part P" applies to electrical work carried out. These for kitchen and bathrooms are more stringent than non 'special' areas. In short if you have most kitchen work done this results in Part P being activated. To be certified for Part P you could look to perform the work, instruct the local building regs and get it inspected but it's better to get an certified electrician to do this - they will be certified by a certified body.. most of the certifying bodies have a way to search and confirm the state of the electrician.

Gas - the same, you cannot perform gas work yourself. You will need a certified plumber to perform the work.

Now comes the fun part.

You as a home owner or landlord, by law, are held accountable for ensuring that the work complies to the relevant building regulation code. Not the builder that may sub-contract the work out. Therefore you should add to any contract that you will receive the certificates for the electrical and gas work performed.

If in doubt get your legal representative to look at it.

The statement of work is worth having as it will define in as much detail as you wish (and the builder) to what work is covered, it should be referenced in the contract and should be the input into builder producing a quote. We provided the Wren designs to the builder ahead of the contract and quote to ensure he knew exactly what was required (if he didn't read this then it's not my issue - "fit the kitchen" therefore is defined in writing as the Wren designs).

A contract is the legally binding agreement between you and the builder. There will be small print - read it and ensure you have understood it before signing. Note that contracts between your friends and the same builder do not share any common details - so make sure it is right for you. Your contract should reference that the work delivered (the scope) is defined by the statement of work. Also the payment steps, what happens when things over run, etc should also be defined in the contract.

The quote is a stage where you can both discuss and come to an agreement what needs doing - once you are both happy you can sign the contract.

Remember you have the right to negotiate the contract with the builder before the contract is signed - so add certification requirements in. Also remind them, even have a clause added, that not having the work not compliant with building regs is a breach of contract as the work done is not fit for purpose. Make it a line item in the statement of work your builder is contracted to perform.

You should also look at a clause about "reasonableness" so that should any disagreement that you're not going to be forced to take it if it causes unreasonable impact on your finances. However the same will apply to the builder towards you. It's not a common thing it appears but it is part of commercial contracts for larger organisations. This has good points (defence) but also some downsides.

Look carefully at delay penalties, look at what constitutes as complete (ie the SoW has been delivered .. and you have the certificates in your hand).

You should not accept paying the entire amount up front. Nor will the builder often accept waiting to the end of the work to get paid - their cashflow of progress payments is often required to pay subcontractors.

So what about the builder?

Well often their contract states they will perform the statement of work, and any additional costs will be covered by you at an agreed rate per hour (per person). They are by law allowed to attempt to reclaim the cost of work done.

Additional work without a contract and statement of work is subject to contract law (there is a specific law for this) - essentially the builder can charge what they want (remember the point about 'reasonableness' doesn't apply unless stated in the contract) and you should ensure that any work is stated and agreed before work commences.

However it's not all the builder's way
* warrantee - you have the right, under building law, to have a fault corrected by complaining - the builder must state what they will do to remedy and you can discuss until you happy and once agreed they will proceed.. By law it should not cost you extra to fix. Also if the time takes to long - escalate to the body that the builder, electrician or plumber is certified through. Be precise, state what you see as the corrective end state. Unless you have put in a statement of reasonableness - you can simply go for the jugular.

* additional work - check carefully as you're going along and ensure all additional work is agreed in writing BEFORE it is started. Then when the invoices come in look at the costs how they are made up and what was agreed (and now long it was agreed to take). If it's not agreed - then you don't need to pay for it.

For example - our builder needed the funds from the final payment to pay for the electrical work, to get the cert.. however the work from the first contract overrun.. within two days 3 man hours was stated as additional work (at the contracted rate as he was still bound by the contract) and only finished the final work on the last day.. but tried to define the two days overrun (2 people for two days at the contracted rate) as 'additional work' with additional tasks defined in the invoice (such as adjusting the kitchen fronts to align) but started quoting that under law he could charge that. Wrong - I just quoted that of the 2 days, all but 3 hours was undelivered work and warrantee (they attempted to repaint their scuff marks botched it.. and ended up repainting the walls again) that they could not charge for.
I did offer to pay for the 3 hours, and that he should therefore re-issue the invoice corrected for only the two actual tasks totalling 3 man hours.. the final invoice almost a 1/8 of the original second invoice.

There is often a general opinion that the electrician and plumber should not be subcontracted to the builder - this is true (as the builder can hold payments or use it for other work causing problems). The downside is that if you delay or the electrician/plumber cannot make it then under the contract penalties you may then be liable to additional costs or overrun penalties from the builder.
So think carefully with this - it may be that you should look at the terms or clauses in the contract and ensure that any issue with these is not going to cause you a problem.


How does this work with a kitchen installer as part of the vendor - well they perform only the fit/connect - so often you will need to perform any 'supplementary work' and read the design/install fine print in the contract to see any additional costs or delay costs that you may be liable for.

 

[NickK]

Deciding on a kitchen
* why
* looking at some forgotten spots - for example got a bin in that?


So the question is why are you changing your kitchen? A daft open question but it's worth thinking what is causing the pain before you jump into the design - make a written note of it and then ensure the kitchen will address it.

So most kitchen designers know about the triangle and ergonomics which is good - look at as if you dry running this in fine detail:
* If I was to make breakfast what do I need to do
* If I was making a coffee
* If I was entertaining 8 people

Now when I mean dry run - did you remember where the knives are stored? Did you put the chopping board out? (where is it stored), where did the cut food waste go? the packaging and the recycling waste?
Are your cups next to the machine? Where are the capsules or grinder stored? Where are the power cables going?
If you open the oven and it's smoking where does the smoke go? Does the extractor have enough power to clear it where it's positioned? What about the baking - where is the mixer and the pastry being rolled out.. where are the hot things put down? Where is the mixer power plugged in? Do you want a USB charging socket for the iPad whilst baking?
Oh.. if there's two of you.. the cutlery is in the draw under the gas hob. how does someone get a fork if your lifting hot pans?
Of there's 8 people .. so it's warm, so there's veggies and meat on the go - how many ovens .. what other devices?

Lots of stuff like this - almost make it a game with the design (before you accept it) and go through every point of making a cake, making the dinner etc with your family.


The output from this will drive what you want in the design, to get rid of the problems and ensure that it's going to support your daily use..


Our pains:
* gaps down the side of the cooker - causing cleaning issues
* work tops were too shallow not allowing things to be rolled out
* unusable space - that space next to the fridge.. and why didn't the cupboards go to the ceiling! The cupboards and getting into the corners meant digging out 50% of the contents..
* leaking stopcock under the sink that had been leaking before we bought the place..
* the mrs likes mopping the floors .. which isn't good for wood laminate.
* the heating has a rad that sits blocked by the table in storage.. so we wanted a large tall radiator.
* need to stoop a bit for the work tops and sink.. so having this a little higher would be good.
* the lights are a pain - if you stand in front of the lights, you block out the light!
* and the cooker should have died years ago.
* no extractor fan means the place got grimy with grease/fat and steam..
* and the mrs set fire to something and so the place needed a repaint..

On short .. here was our pain.. 1989 original that came with the house.. (you can see the paint tests on each wall)



(don't worry .. you will see the final result )

 

[NickK]

Pre-planning
* what needs doing - things to consider (you know you wanted two ovens.. see above in modelling the uses as dry runs from start to rubbish and washing up)
* Who is doing what? (covered above - about the electrician)
* pros & cons
* looking for an independent

Some of the preplanning we started above..

1. Get thinking and designing BEFORE you start builder
2. Get the builder to see the design and basic bill of materials without pricing (ideally before you complete and sign off the design)

The two above make a good point
a) the builder if they're good will point out things missing too
b) the builder will see the design and understand it before the quote (although I would say don't send over the costs as part of the design to the builder or they may charge you more seeing the cost)

The kitchen company will deliver - often requiring you to store for a period between delivery and your fitting.. that could be weeks.. and the delivery can be large. Wren infinity Plus comes prebuilt for example and not flatpack.
Most fitters will only fit - that is the walls need to be precise to 5mm for example as part of the contract terms in the kitchen designer/fitter terms.
If you need work like floors, electrics they charge for additional such as connecting the appliances... 150 for connecting a gas hob.. another 150 for connecting a oven.. etc etc.. and connecting a dishwasher.. well how much?!

As part of the kitchen planning you will need to look at dumb things like - if I use this appliance, is it plugged in, is it plumbed in with water (may need hot but normally cold), what happens to the waste water and will the door open wide enough.

It's probably worth mentioning at this point - accuracy of measurements. As everything and I mean everything (including floors, walls and ceilings) are not typically square or flat or ideal. It is worth ensuring you know and build this in. If things are inaccurate it will bite you. If things are inaccurate it could really bite you hard. Oh did I say review how you could add a clause in the contract for the builder to be responsible for reviewing the dimensions of the design plan and ensuring it's accurate...

The pros and cons ..

if the kitchen vendor fitter - well if the fitter does everything in theory it should be a perfect job. However they are given a specific period such as a week.. and the kitchen company is not interested in the supplementary work but just delivery and fit. So we found ourselves not being able to have this scheduled - even though we discussed it with the designer and the branch manager.. the kitting part of the company just wouldn't accept we needed a couple of weeks to sort the kitchen floor, ceiling and walls first (including moving socket from the nonstructural wall).
A popper independent kitchen fitter is probably twice the cost.. but should have the experience..

Even discussing with the fitting builders themselves .. could only start end of jan! Also we had a difficult corner that contained a soil pipe that would block the magic mechanism of the corner unit so we would loose that storage space. However it would be possible with a bit of adjustment and moving the pipe slightly.

I've already discussed the electrician and gas above.. so think how all these piece will impact you if any delays happen (and the associated contract costs/penalties).

We actually had 5 builders quote for the work we knew we needed - we supplied the basic design pack to each. We had quotes over £12K just to do the work and fit it (yeah pull the other one!) we also had people asking for the full amount up front (not happening) and we asked them if they could provide (a) VAT declaration and (b) a certificate of building insurance before we would continue talking past the initial chat (before the designs). We had some that didn't exist, some that were not VAT registered but stated they have £150K jobs waiting and one that provided a certificate that was registered on the same day they provided it.
We also asked in writing - if they had (a) fitted kitchens and (b) fitted Wren kitchens and highlighted the composite work top that isn't a normal mitre.

We had one guy say - you give us the room and then we seal it off and you then come in at the end to accept it. Hmm .. not as proactive in case of issues.. but it stops the dust and problems of site health & safety.
Also check and get written confirmation who will be doing the work - someone I know has had a UK builder start the work only to hand over to a set of non-English speakers todo the work, but she's concerned about attempting to communicate about the work as they don't speak english.


So we go down to one.. who did eventually get there.. but needed a lot of help.

 

[NickK]

Wooo... going into the show room (now you know why I said write down your pains..)

You can see - we didn't want a Quaker style..


Design
* Wren's steps
* before you accept the design
* Handling kitchen design and bill of materials

To give you an example:

You note a couple of things:
a) the bottom left corner .. the overlap between the magic unit and the box of the soil pipe..
b) the gap by "Wall A" worktop units and the dishwasher..
c) the measurements across the the bottom.. can you tell me how big the green near bottom right is? nor could anyone else.. so accuracy here is important and going through things too..
d) our sink is offset although not by the amount it shows as it's a single basin in the design - ours is a double.. but the kitchen has that design.. it will not fit a sink under the window or you loose too much space.. one of our inherited compromises without knocking the wall out and putting in an extension..
e) the the top boundary of the doors (11,12,1) and the wall next to the fridge (FR) is not proportional to reality.. originally it was measured in 276cm between that and the door on the left.. in reality that block was fitted in such a way it didn't loose as much space in the dining area..

You do get a nice 3D render that you can VR with a headset which does make it a good experience to feel the size of the kitchen - you get to take the render link with you so you can play in your own time.. this was a initial render before fixing the obvious work top (and we changed to a darker worktop, etc)

That light work top may look nice.. but it'll stain easily. Also that midnight blue unit is too dark if you look at darker work tops..

Getting the colours right.. it's good to have a large show room with all the options available to see at size and in block fashion:

Wren have a number of steps
1. Basic design following an initial customer based measurements
2. Surveyor comes and formally measures up (I can't remember if this was before or after the deposit)
3. Paying the deposit - this starts the process and you will be looked into a time frame (although not bad) ensure they still give you a
4. Further design - this will not be a complete precision design but is there to define all the kitchen, you an change it as much as you want.. but the price still changes.. it was at this point we removed the installation for example.
5. Finalisation - this is the final contract, ordering and schedule of delivery, and pay.. now if you're having it fitted by Wren then take the zero interest as it allows you to reject the kitchen outright if the fitter messes up back up by the finance company. Paying the balance without doing the interest free loan does not allow you to perform this point.
6. Delivery - a large truck appears and drops off the pieces, you should check as much as possible that the list of materials match.. although difficult given the speed. When you sign for the delivery state that you have not had chance to finish reviewing and accepting all the packages as the driver wants to go.
7. You have 32hours to raise any issues with delivered packs (thus you should be ready to fit) - combine all these in one complaint, additional reports then cost you £40 per report..
8. After a period you then have 'accepted' if your going independent.

We had fun with Wren - we read the riot act a number of times.. including going line by line, unit by unit checking the colour and pieces, the design, the electrical points, the connections for the appliances, the Bill of Materials etc.. then again on the final contract pack on paper to ensure that everything was correct (colour of units, units, opening of door orientation, etc etc).
We didn't have a problem with what was delivered as a result.

I think we could be categorised as the most precise and demanding customers they've had

We did complain at some damage on the delivery, however as the piece needed cutting to fit the damage could be removed. Replacements.. would be 12 weeks (and that will cost in penalties as part of the contract..)

You need to ensure you know, and confirm, that the delivery will be one complete deliver (the small print indicates it can be separate deliveries for example).

So before you accept the design -ensure you go through every little detail, then go around the kitchen design and check the materials list of the order from that perspective.

So in the design we nailed our pain points:
* no space for dirt to get down the side of the hob/oven
* easy cleaning hob and oven, the extractor fan filters can be dishwashed!
* magic corner and cuboards go up to the ceiling (ie they're taller than before too not just higher)
* replumbing means no leaks
* extractor fan --- yay finally.. (you guessed, trapped steam/greasy smoke presses my button!) it has a 1-3 speeds but also an intense mode pushing out a massive amount of air.
* higher work top due to thickness
* we went for a single oven - not a combo or dual ovens, so we don't have a separate grill however in reality there's not enough space. The oven is faster and more effective than the previous cooker.
* spot lighting covers the larger main prep area and the extractor illuminates the hob etc.
* the main worktops are 662mm but the work top closer is 940mm (IIRC) so wider to take cake prep.
* tiles are under the worktops and across the dining area - making cleaning easy

So we were already doing the building work of:
* tiled floors (a floating floor beneath) - we'd supply 22sqm of tiles for 18sqm needed.
* removal of one radiator (behind the nearest worktop in the photo of the original kitchen)
* changes to the soil pipe
* movement of the light and socket
* new ceiling with spot lights on two circuits
* new oven curcuit, movement of the oven and addition of the extractor fan electrics etc
* some replumbing
* replacement consumer box (all metal)

Notes;
* No boiler needed moving or designing in.. ours is in the attic so we're lucky that we don't ned to plan around it, or that we didn't loose any heating other than the kitchen during the period of the building work.

 

[NickK]

Installation
* Kitchen vendor
* Independent - including contract (covered this above)
* fitting hints and tips.
* handling overruns, additional work and warrantee work.

So we looked (and got ideas in terms of costs) from:
* B&Q (not the right colours - low cost but don't fit themselves)
* Wren (right colours, probably 3x price of B&Q for kitchen itself but offer fitting)
* Magnet (not right colours or style)
* Howdens (via the website - again, not the right colours, builders love them because they stock the components locally for fast fixing and they get rewarded for using them)

We'd also looked at the fittings from the above - I wanted to have the mechanisms metal with supporting metal inside the units rather than simply plastic or pinned only weakly into the unit chipboard.

I researched Wren and they have a reputation around the "fitting" which if you look deeper seems to be around you making sure the design, any supplementary work and the materials are all known before the contract is signed (thus ordered). The are problems around the fitters themselves but they (in our case) were given 3 days to fit the kitchen.. that also set off alarm bells.. so we knew up front that if we chose Wren we would need to keep a severe check on them and possible use independents to do the work.

I'll get to the fitting bits in a sec but first the build..

This was after the electrician had done the initial electrics (not live) and before the floor was ripped up but still have the original soil pipe config..

You can still see the paint samples on the walls

The electrician and plumber came twice in the end - first to disconnect the old gas cooker and also isolate all the electrics and fit the new electrics. Second time to fit the gas, plumbing, connect the electrics to the new consumer box. So expect the room to be out of action - so think about where your fridge is going and power to it. How you'll cook, wash things you're cooking etc.

It's worth mentioning:
a) the amount of dust.. expect rooms adjacent and it to get everywhere..
b) not having a radiator (the only other one was removed for painting the wall) needs a oil electric on on to help paint and plaster drying.

We essentially put everything in boxes and under sheets - this stopped the dust getting to most of things being stored in the adjacent rooms. However the TV had a layer and the smell of the adhesive used on the ceiling permiated the house for a few days regardless of how closed of sealed the doors were.

So this is the first coats drying, ceiling done and the soil pipe moved so the corner unit will work.

Now the builder had a brain barf in how to start or set out a tile floor (18sqm with 600x300 tiles).. so my bosch laser level that locked out works great for floors came to the rescue for the first of many times..

The floor was so precise however the guy didn't finish before the delivery.. so we had the floor lay in two sections.

A cross section of our work tops.. did I say how much this scared the builders cutting this.. the laminate chips, it's not a normal mitre and needs laminate bonding and yes it has bolts.. that he finally put in.
The laser measure on a tripod then accelerated the unit alignment both at the based but at the tops the final worktops were naturally only 0.5mm out before being adjusted before bonding.

Oh.. that's 80mm so your router bits may not work... hehe.

Laser alignment to the rescue again... that's the 150mm ducting cored out .. that I ended up doing because he didn't have the tools capable.. I reminded him that the design stated "ducted out" as part of the statement of work.. when he attempted to state it wasn't part of it and then tried charging me on the second invoice for random tasks..

Bosch 2kg class 850W SDS does 150mm coring nicely - bang on the money too.. drilled out from inside to outside (and blew a bit of brick out as expected) then use the path to give the pilot bit back coring from outside inwards through brick and block.

Laser doing it's thang.. perfect alignment going out.. makes perfect alignment of the coring..

 

[NickK]

So..

Would I accept this "alignment" in the kitchen fit.. I think not!

Better shot of the colours before the protective film came off and the doors were aligned and the final section of floor grouted:

So this is something to think about when you state "Fit the kitchen" that your statement of work includes ensuring that the doors are aligned and that includes having the plastic stick on bumpers in place behind the door.. yes our builder made this boo-boo.

The little plastic bits push the doors out by about 1mm form the unit towards you, which if all the doors and draws have that it's fine. However the Wren kitchen designs have side walls and dividers between the units.. these need to be aligned to the door fronts.

Thankfully it's not a biggie. It doesn't cause wear and doesn't cause problems with the operation of the doors.

Compare this with my parents Proform (german engineering!) and this is after several years.. still glossy and still perfectly aligned..

So finally after a lot of 'acceptance' discussions and we accepted .. and this it now It looks darker than it is in this photo and the white units don't look white when in real life they match the white of the washing machine..

If you're like me .. the top unit and wall gap makes me cringe a little.. however that's sortable with some DIY sealant but I didn't want the builder having any excuse.
We still have a splash back to be installed - this will be a tile based design once we can decide on the tile design. This will then cover the gap between the two sockets (this is just wall and not electrical).
Also we are likely to add a glass board on the left wall behind the coffee maker.

This shot also shows just how unsquare our walls are. We also know the floor under the worktop closest is the highest point and but the work top and units are perfectly level.

So if there's one thing I would advise is the accuracy of measurements. Especially if you have expect the kitchen fitter to simply 'fit'.

And the magic corner unit (under where the knives are) works nicely - thanks to a lot of measurement and creative cutting.

There is a 1800x570mm radiator behind me - anthracite matches the work tops well.

 

[NickK]

Bit hazy and random but I wanted to get things down on paper.. and it's getting late. I'll clean it up a little in a couple of days time.

So in terms of the kitchen itself, it's good - although we do have concerns about how easily the enamel gloss is to be damaged on the corners (we have a couple of 'white' door corners where they've whited out from the lagoon blue). Still deciding if we make a noise about this or not at this stage.

In terms of the kitchen manufacturer and design -- needed baby sitting and reading the riot act.

In terms of the fitter.. the independent got the job done but I suspect that a professional specialised fitter would be faster and have a higher quality fit.

The fitter would not have sorted the alignment with the walls.. so unless that was in the builder spect (which then could have impacted the design measurements).. it becomes a difficult situation to solve when you need to live in the house too.

In terms of delivery bang on time although with a couple of damaged corner edges that could be cut off due to needing to trim to fit. Although needed to have 3x2x2 meters of storage space for the delivery which most people do not!

So we have some niggles but they're acceptable for the interim (although how long it takes to wear may be a moot point).

Yes I would say the german Proform is higher quality given my parent's kitchen and comparing.

 

[-Ad-]

Good info there, I'll have to write up ours from a few months ago.

I presume you mean Pronorm German kitchen like your parents have?

Good kitchens but Leicht are better and highly recommended.

 

[NickK]

I presume you mean Pronorm German kitchen like your parents have?

Yup it may be pronorm and I misread the badges on the inside.

 

[SoliD]

Good write up, and interesting to read all the things you had to take into consideration over and above mine which I fitted myself! Took longer but definitely with 1/10ths of the headaches as it was my Dad and I solving most bits, only had to get a plasterer in to redo the ceiling and electrician in to finish the kitchen. Everything else was resolved as we go.

I have a few things I know for my next kitchen I would change regarding layout and colours, but for the size of your kitchen you've got a good amount of worktop space there! The U shape really helps with that!

 

[NickK]

I would add if you’re short of space - look at the hob.. ours is 75cm (not 90) but we went with a 90 hood. The hood has an active area that is 75cm and works with a full hob creating steam

 

[NickK]

Good write up, and interesting to read all the things you had to take into consideration over and above mine which I fitted myself! Took longer but definitely with 1/10ths of the headaches as it was my Dad and I solving most bits, only had to get a plasterer in to redo the ceiling and electrician in to finish the kitchen. Everything else was resolved as we go.

I have a few things I know for my next kitchen I would change regarding layout and colours, but for the size of your kitchen you've got a good amount of worktop space there! The U shape really helps with that!

I'd be happy to fit my own again to be honest - the tools I would ensure I had would be:
* a shop vac able to take dust, rubble and abuse.
* Impact driver for ceiling plasterboard screws, hardboard for under tiles, wall plasterboard, cabinet and side panel securing etc etc etc.
* multi-tool - the vibrating blade works well for cutting the insides of the cabinets for plumbing, piping etc
* Tile chisel bit in a SDS drill works great for clearing large areas
* Coring bit - again SDS with an extension and pilot bit, a Long bit standard drill bit for setting up the coring bit path that goes from inside to outside in one go is good.
* Good set of masonry bits for securing things like wall units, tower units etc - SDS or other
* Circular saw with 48T smooth cut blade, used after cutting laminate with sharp knife to stop/reduce chipping. Routers work for standard worktops but ours was a right angle join - the bolts still need securing by routing in the space to position. Also useful for cutting the hob, sink etc holes.
* 4" axle grinder with diamond disk for cutting hardboard, tiles and even with a normal cutting disk any metalwork.
* manual tile breaker just make sure it can cut the tile maximum dimension (ie 600mm for us)
* laser level - this needs to be both autolevellign and lockable but spreads wall to wall (left right) and ceiling/floor. so many uses.
* a wall sander - for walls and ceiling.
* woodworking 90 deg
* mitre saw and jig - i had a manual picture frame mitre saw that is both accurate and cheap.. works great for the skirting boards, cornices, plinths etc.
* plane was good for shaving off a little off the bottom of the doors with the new tile level. You could use another tool.
* a workmate with a couple of horses to help cutting
* pain rollers.
* masking tape.. everything from stopping chipping, to paint to protecting units

 

[NickK]

So today - bought all the tiles, adhesive and grout for putting in the backsplashes. Just waiting for the 9 panel mosaic (white grout - yay for behind the cooker but the mrs wanted it).

 

[jpaul]

interesting report - colouring is nice, plus well lit island/prep-surface close to sink,
trade-off for space under wall cupboards for electrical goods is always a dilema.

so the builder was acceptable value for money despite the micro-management you had to provide with respect to laser/tiles ? I guess you were available to inspect regularly with him.
Did you inspect some of his previous work, or speak to folks who had used the builders making quotes ?
- parents currently making similar choices and there is definitely a devil you know strategy

 

[NickK]

Additional - now I have fitted and grouted the backsplash - some additional hints and tips.

Backsplash tiles with surface ridging take longer todo - the ridges mess with the cutting and grouting.

Also when using a 10mm metal surround on the edge you need to look carefully at the wall and the tile thickness to get a straight tiled wall.

Plan everything on paper (you’ll forget when tired):

* surrounds - look at how the surround will fit when wall corners exist - I have a lovely window bay that too some thinking to get the right way - this affects how the tiles are cut and some tiles may need to overhang the walls to match where the surround and tiles sit correctly not to see tile edges. Probably best doing the surround first but check how you intend to fit the tiles by holding tiles to it.
Sticking surrounds to the location is easy either small amount of adhesive or superglue to tack them in before fully tiling which provides the final strength.
I used a simple hacksaw and mitre block for all the surround cuts - neat, accurate and cheap.

* measure, measure the next day and once again on a desperate occasion. That way you’ll not rush and make a mistake.

* tiling is relatively easy and fast if the wall is straight and you can simply use a botched spreader. If the wall is not straight and/or you need more adhesive depth - you will need to thing more about it.

Get a adhesive spreader with a depth gauge (not just notch depth) if the metal surround needs more depth.
I used a quick setting adhesive and made small batches - cut a 1.5l bottle in two ensure it’s dry then use one piece for the adhesive powder and the other half for the water - mark the levels on the bottle.
Also get a flexible metal spreader, the type you use for plaster, as this helps for any small bits and scraping away adhesive from tools, tiles, gaps and walls.
I used 10x30cm tiles with 2mm spacer. The front face was ridged and a pig to keep clean.

The best way to tile is start at one end and do small sections to use up the adhesive, scraping the wall bare to adhesive at the end of each batch and cleaning the tools. Start laying at the bottom and work along/up using a thick adhesive mix you shouldn’t need to worry about the tile moving.

* Mosaic panels are a pain to stick if you have surrounds deeper than the tile thickness. However they aren’t that bad and grouting is very easy. A rubber squeegee spreader works a treat for grout. The time sink for mosaics is cleaning the gaps of adhesive. With nine 30x30cm mosaic panels that’s a lot of cleaning!

* Electrical points are straightforward with a wet tile table saw and a score’n’break cutter making the cut outs. You may need longer electrical screws to bridge the new tile thickness but these are available at screwfix etc (3.5mm electrical screws).
Goes without saying that wet adhesive and grout conduct electricity so switch off the power to the electrical points.

* Lastly b&q do little foam scouring pads in a big pack for £1.49 use those for cleaning rather than the £13 special tile cleaning pack.